A mental health activist took his own life within minutes of being dismissed from his high-flying job at a major financial firm in London.

Oliver Bredski, 21, killed himself after the 14-minute Zoom call with his boss, leaving a note in his childhood bedroom that read: ‘I’ve been sacked.’

Described as a ‘young man of immense potential’, Oliver began work at Deloitte in December 2019 as a Bright Start trainee business analyst after graduating from the prestigious £13,380-a-year Manchester Grammar School.

An inquest heard he had became an activist with the mental health charity YoungMinds after battling with depression in his teenage years.

He had considered suicide in November 2017 before changing his mind.

His dad Martin, a company director, who who runs a retail firm, said: ‘He spoke about his struggles to diverse audiences from school kids to City grandees.

‘For such a young man, he spoke with clarity and passion and he transfixed them all. He was more than a volunteer for them, he was part of the YoungMinds family.

‘They called him a pioneer and an inspiration. They loved him and they were proud of him.

‘We have so many different memories of what Oliver did that it’s difficult to believe that he was only 21. Our beautiful boy was taken away but our memories will always be with us.

‘His senseless passing has devastated us and his many friends have also found it difficult to cope.’

The hearing in Rochdale was told Oliver was not doing well in comparison to other trainee analysts.

Complaints included him watching Netflix at work – although this was later clarified it was during a lunch break – and that he was working from the offices of rival company Price Waterhouse Cooper during lockdown, because he had friends who worked there.

As a result, line manager and people leader Ranvir Rai said Oliver was told he would be put on a development plan with the focus on ‘the positive to work through this and get out of the other side’ – but this did not appear to happen before his dismissal.

Senior executive at Deloitte Nick Smith, who led the Zoom call with Oliver in August 2020, stressed the company had not been told of his history of mental health problems.

Mr Smith said: ‘This was a tragic set of events, a unique set of events. If there had been any record prior to that meeting of mental health issues, then that would have been taken into account.

‘We would have taken a different course of action. I have thought long and hard about that meeting and what could have happened.’

Yet, their worker had bravely gone public in the Guardian newspaper and other publications online in 2018 about his battle with severe anxiety and depression.

YoungMinds, the charity which Oliver supported, paid tribute to a ‘kind and joyful’ young man who showed ‘extraordinary courage’ in talking about his own problems to help others.

Tom Madders, campaigns director at YoungMinds, said: ‘Oliver showed extraordinary courage in sharing his own mental health experiences to help other young people, to build understanding and compassion across society and to try to change things for the better for others like him.

‘He was a kind and joyful young man as well as a brilliant campaigner, and we are proud of the enormous impact he had through his work. Oliver’s tragic death leaves all of us at YoungMinds utterly devastated. We miss him deeply.’

The inquest heard Oliver logged into the Zoom call at 10.59am and was asked to put forward any reason for his low performance.

Senior executive Nick Smith stopped the meeting at 11.09am and it resumed at 11.13am when Oliver was told he was dismissed. The remaining four minutes involved administrative matters.

Oliver’s dad Martin said: ‘Lockdown was a struggle for him and it affected his work.

‘Only the week before, he was told he was moving up a grade. He was also told the meeting was nothing to worry about.

‘The company took a Zoom call of maybe 11 minutes to consider the future of a 20-year-old boy and I think that is brutal. It hit him like a ton of bricks.

‘If they had let him go from the job in a different manner, I am confident that my son would still be here.’

Oliver was found by his sister Rachel in the loft of their parents’ house in Salford, Greater Manchester, a little over 10 minutes after his conversation with Mr Smith.

She went to a neighbour for help and they summoned paramedics, who resuscitated him.

But Oliver was left with severe brain injuries and was in a coma until his life support was switched off 11 months later, after medics agreed he had no chance of recovery.

Coroner Catherine McKenna said Oliver did not appreciate he might be sacked at the Zoom meeting and was ‘shocked and taken by surprise’ by the decision.

The coroner said she was satisfied that no one in the meeting was aware of his mental health struggles.

Recording a narrative verdict Mrs McKenna said: ‘The meeting ended at 11.17am and his sister came home at 11.30am and that is a very short time for Oliver to have taken his action.

‘I think he was in shock and did not fully appreciate the consequences of what he was doing. He was a young man of immense potential.’

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